Perfect Sofa Buying Tips

What Makes a Sofa Great?

Do you ever wonder what makes a really good sofa? Hi there. I’m David Adelman, owner of Parc Modern Home, located in beautiful Victoria, British Columbia, in Uptown, adjacent to Whole Foods.

Today I want to talk about sofas. I’m sitting on a Camerich sofa sectional with a lounge (see video above). This one is quite unique, and I’ll tell you why. First of all, this sofa is built on a metal and wood platform, solid wood and metal, with interlaced Pirelli webbing, no squeaking like you get with a traditional coil spring, very good support system based on a European model. As well, this entire frame is slip-covered, so you can take off the entire frame and pillows, and dry clean if necessary.

Why Cushions Are Important

The other nice thing and cool feature about a good quality sofa are that the cushions are removable and interchangeable. Basically what you can do with these is you can move them around. Oftentimes you’ll get a favorite seat, which might be here (on the lounge section). Or most likely on this set, this is the seat everyone fights for is the lounge. Everyone will lie on here. However, you can take these cushions and move them around so they all get equal use. That will keep your sofa lasting a lot longer than just not rotating them.

The other thing with a good sofa is the foam. This particular model is very unique because it’s got some down in it. Inside the cushion is a 2.4 density foam, so very high resilient foam. Then on top of that is a soft layer of down, so it gives you that really nice luxurious seat. In the back cushions as well, you have the same thing, and again, they’re loose back cushions. Basically, the same thing applies with the back cushions in that you can rotate them around as well.

Any good sofa will have a cotton or muslin cover, keeping everything inside the cushion intact. Some of the less expensive sofas will just have blown chip foam in them, and eventually, your cushion will just be flattening out, especially in the center. This keeps the cushion in place, and this is something you should look for in any high-quality sofa. As well, zippered cushions, and seats and backs, so you can take the cushions off to clean and if you need to replace them as well.

Leather vs. Fabric Sofas

This style is available in many fabrics or leathers. The thing to look for in any fabric sofa is the rub count. In the furniture industry, we go by double rubs. In other words, one, two, that’s a double rub. The majority of our sofas have anywhere from 50,000 to 100,000 double rubs, which is basically commercial grade, or contract grade. When you’re talking about some fabrics imported that have 5,000, 10,000 double rubs, that’s something you should stay away from.

The other thing you should look for, especially if you have some pets, is a tighter weave. You don’t want a very open weave where a pet can claw at and open up the fabrication. As far as leathers go, I’ve talked about this previously, you want to get a leather that is compatible with your usage. If you have a small family or large family, a protected semi-aniline leather, protected leather. If you’re just the two of you and you want something a little purer, then you can go with more of an unprotected natural leather, which is a pure aniline leather.

That’s it basically for sofas. What you want to do essentially is make sure the guts are good, make sure the frame is good, and then make sure the fabric or leather application is also good.

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If you need any assistance with your home decor please call us for a free interior design analysis by our team of experts by calling us at (250) 590-1110 or visiting our spacious showroom at Parc Modern Home located in Uptown next to Whole Foods in Victoria, BC.